Fic: The Beginning, Chapter Three

[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

A very, very short chapter. But it should put some minds at rest. Working on chapter 4!

Links to past chapters:
What Aunt Dahlia Saw:

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six

The Beginning:

Chapter One
Chapter Two


Title: - The Beginning: Chapter Three - Home
Author: bertiebwriting
Pairing: Jeeves/Wooster
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 813
Warnings: Slash
Summary: Chapter Three of the prequel to my 'What Aunt Dahlia Saw' series.

The Beginning: Chapter Three

Home

All was a bit dim and quiet, when Bertie next was aware of anything at all. He had the vague feeling that he was laying slumped in a rather comfortable chair, but he had no recollection, for the moment, of where he was or how he got there. He didn’t think that he was home, but there was something that was making him feel curiously at ease. The world was slowly seeping back into his consciousness. He thought he heard a couple of hushed voices. He felt the warmth of a human hand on his arm, a hand that he was certain had been on his head just a moment before. And then there was a voice that seemed to be addressing him. He frowned, struggling to wake up.

‘Sir. Mr. Wooster, sir.’

The voice was soft, familiar, banishing the last of his fears. He opened his eyes, squinting a little at the bright, and there was Jeeves, crouching beside the chair he was in, regarding him with an expression of great concern.

‘Jeeves,’ he croaked, with a weak smile. ‘I was looking all over for you. Can you take me home?’

Jeeves’s look of concern did not depart. His master’s incoherency alarmed him, and he examined Bertie’s appearance critically. Mr. Wooster was quite drenched from the rain. His jacket and shirt were torn, his tie hanging loose and his collar partially detached and sticking out from his neck like a badly fractured bone. The rain on his face, dripping from his hair, converged under his nose where he had been bleeding to form a watery reddish tinge, and his forehead was tarnished by a mauve bruise. Whether there were more serious injuries not yet discernable remained to be seen.

‘Sir, what happened to you?’

For a moment, Bertie was unsure himself of the answer; but as he glanced about him and realised that he’d found his way to the entrance hall of his own building, his disorientation faded. ‘Gosh,’ he muttered. ‘I thought for a moment that I’d been dreaming.’

‘Sir.’ Jeeves’s voice was a trifle insistent. ‘Do you remember anything at all?’

Bertie nodded. ‘Yes. Yes, It’s all coming back to me now. I was mugged. Not three blocks away from here. I thought that when it did happen it would be in some seedy, garish area.’

Jeeves seemed to sigh with relief. ‘Are you much hurt, sir?’

‘I’m fine. Just fine.’

‘He came stumbling in here a few minutes ago,’ said a voice. It was the old man who had the night shift at the front desk – Bertie had exchanged words with him once or twice on occasions he’d returned home late.

‘I didn’t know what was going on,’ the fellow was saying. ‘I asked him if he was hurt, did he need his key—he just stood there, then he said “fetch Jeeves, would you?” and fell down. I recognised you, all right, sir,’ he said to Bertie. ‘Looks like you’ve had quite a night.’

‘We are much obliged, Mr. Callahan,’ Jeeves said absently. He was watching Mr. Wooster closely. Bertie nodded, still smiling faintly.

‘I put him in that chair, Mr. Jeeves. I would have taken him up to your apartment myself, sir, but I’d no-one to mind the desk.’

‘I will assist him to our apartment,’ Jeeves said. ‘I appreciate you calling me.’ He touched the bruise on Bertie’s head, very briefly. ‘It might be advisable to notify the local police of the incident, sir.’

Bertie shook his head tiredly. ‘They didn’t take much, Jeeves. Nothing that can’t be replaced.’

‘Nevertheless, sir—’

‘I can’t face it, Jeeves. Not now.’ To tell the truth, Bertie was feeling too humiliated and too alien to endure admitting what an ass he’d been to a New York cop, at least not right now. Besides, he was reluctant to exchange words with any more American strangers that night. No doubt he’d feel differently in the morning, but at the moment he was feeling a powerful yearning to be home, amongst familiar faces, and to never travel foreign parts again.

‘Were you able to observe these men very closely, sir?’

‘One of them, yes.’ Bertie rubbed his forehead with a shaking hand. ‘I’ll go to the nearest station tomorrow and report it, Jeeves. I have a good memory for faces. But I’m awfully tired at the moment.’

Jeeves nodded, understanding.

‘Can you walk, sir, if I assist you?’

‘Of course. I’m fine.’ He held out an arm for Jeeves to take and Jeeves helped him carefully to his feet. As he took a step he suddenly gasped and winced, clutching at his side.

‘Sir?’

‘Nothing. It’s nothing.’

‘Perhaps I should call a doctor, sir.’

‘At this time of night? Nonsense, I’m all right. I just—I just need to get up to the flat, Jeeves. He grasped Jeeves’s sleeve. ‘Take me home.’


----------------------------------------------------------

End of Chapter Three.

Thanks to my beta, onedergirl29.

Comments

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Poor Bertie! And poor Jeeves -- I can see he's worried half to death. I just hope he calls a doctor anyway because it sounds like Bertie's pretty badly concussed and might have broken ribs.

I was just rereading chapters 1 and 2 about 20 minutes ago and hoping you'd update soon. Thank you!

[derien.livejournal.com]

Really enjoying this! You write very well, their voices are spot on, and I'm hooked in. Poor Bertie! Poor Jeeves. I'm glad I know that everything will be all right in the end so that it relieves my stress level. ;)

[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this is really more of a romance than a drama. But the drama stuff is fun to do too :)

[baskervwatson.livejournal.com]

*wibble* Oh Poor Bertie! Time for some good ol' Jeeves pampering now :(

[mellifluous-gel.livejournal.com]

Glad Bertie's made it back home, or at least to a place he'll be safe. Really liked his reaction to the idea of calling on the police. Of course the poor guy's gonna be wary of Americans right now. Jeeves should be able to provide the comforting reminder of old Blighty, though.

[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

:D I should have said, no disrespect of Americans intended whatsoever, of course! I hope it came across as Bertie having a sudden weariness of all things strange and unfamiliar, and not necessarily Americans specifically. :)

Really glad you liked that bit, anyway - I added that bit in rather at the last minute, when it suddenly occurred to me that it might be a bit odd if no-one suggested notifying the authorities :)

[mellifluous-gel.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't take it that way at all! I can fully appreciate just wanting to be in your home country after a trying experience, even if all the other natives are perfectly wonderful human beings. I was living in Switzerland during undergrad a year and a half ago, and there were times when I wouldn't really want anything to do with the Swiss. It wasn't that they were being mean, I just wanted America sometimes where people spoke the same language I did, understood the same references, and so forth.

Looking forward the next bit!

[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think anyone who's even been to a strange city knows that feeling of being initially exhilarated by the differences to being really wearied or even threatened by them! Even when the language is the same, it's disconcerting - the longer you're there the more you realise that there's a whole system going on that you don't fully understand. :) Glad that came over!

[gwendolynflight.livejournal.com]

Oh, poor thing! Very disconcerting transition to the lobby of his building, very reflective of what Bertie must be going through.

[nox-candida.livejournal.com]

I'm so very glad to see you've been posting this and so glad I could help you with it. :)

Every time I re-read it, I just feel so bad for Bertie--he's been through the emotional and physical ringer and my heart just goes out to him. You do a fantastic job keeping him and Jeeves in character here and, even though it's short, I still enjoy reading this chapter. Great job and I look forward to you continuing to post. :)

[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

As always I can't thank you enough :) This was one chapter originally, but I didn't like the way it changed scenes in the middle like that, so I divided it up.

It always surprises me that there aren't a bunch of fics that beat Bertie up a bit :) I'm not at all sadistic, but it's really interesting to put him in an unusual yet perfectly realistic situation like this. At the end of Aunts Aren't Gentlemen as he and Jeeves are about to head to New York he even speculates on whether or not getting mugged would be all that bad - but of course he was making his escape from all his troublesome relatives at the time, and perhaps the risks of living in a more violent city didn't seem so bad by comparison. Come to think of it, that might be what put the idea in my head... :)

[nox-candida.livejournal.com]

lol, you have a point there: I have to admit that I like a vulnerable Bertie, and it would be really easy to put him in a situation that would accomplish that. I wonder if it's because there is virtually no physical abuse at all in the original stories? But I'm glad you're doing it, and I think you're doing a bang up job with it, too. :)

[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

Actually I don't know why I said that - there's a bunch of stories that put Bertie through hell. I've read some much more painful than this! Perhaps I was more surprised that there's less muggings in general. I think Triedunture did a London based mugging though.

Bertie glosses over most physical violence in the stories so smoothly you almost miss them, but he does get knocked around a little, I think. I'm sure he was cracked over the head more than once. There was one moment when he needed to look like he'd been hit by a burglar and it was never explicit whether it was Aunt Dahlia or Jeeves that struck the blow.:) And of course, there was the bicycle ride from hell. I guess the difference is that in the stories when he's put through the wringer, he is at least always in his element - he knows what's going on, who he's with, how it all works.

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Well, okay, I've whumped him a bit. I plan on doing a story where there's some significant Bertie-whumpage at some point, but I have at least a paying essay to get out of the way first. It'll be a while. *grumble* There will be comfort after the hurt, because I do that thang.

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

Oh, poor Bertie!

I'll be glad to see you post more of this story!

Why are you so brilliant????

[tenisunoelito.livejournal.com]

SAFE AT LAST!!!!! OMG< SORRY I know I seem like a nut but really thistsory is fabulous!!!!!

Re: Why are you so brilliant????

[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

Never feel like you have to apologize for calling me 'brilliant'. :) Glad you're enjoying it!

[mxdp.livejournal.com]

Re-read this, and hung my head in shame that I never commented.These series is of the best things on the interned. Yes, the whole internet. I know you've either taken a long break or it's meant to end like this, but I'm not above using big teary eyes and begging, just sayin'. I hope one day we'll see another chapter of this :)

[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

OMG, are you kidding? The whole internet? I don't know whether that's intended to make my ego swell to the size of a small planet or if it's intended to fill me with shame that this story is evolving at such a glacial speed. I think you achieved both outcomes though.

I'm incredibly slow at writing. I don't know why. I might be mildly dyslexic, or I might be just a perfectionist, or I might just be not that great at writing. Also I'm obsessed right now with a completely different, un-Jooster related pairing and I'm writing a lot in that arena now (even though in truth, I love this community better). When I get pulled into a new character it's like a love affair. I can't resist. And poor old Bertie is left hanging.

Still you've inspired me to take a look at the last chapter I was working on and see if I ever got it good enough to post. I've got a ton written to go after this chapter, but it's not all quite right yet.

I love you guys. I'm sorry I keep abandoning you all.

[mxdp.livejournal.com]

I inspired you to check up on chapter 4? OH YEA! Too bad I gave those internets away, cause I deserve them. So that I could give them back to you, in hope to make your ego swell the size of Jupiter (biggest planet).
People love your stories, but if there ever was a patient community, this is the one. The most important thing is that you are happy about your work.
I understand the lure of different fandoms. Have fun there, but come back soon! *ties rope to your leg so I can pull you back if necesaary ;) *

I'll just sit here then, and wait. Patiently. Hmm. Wait. *goes to get comfy chair* Right. Take your time.

(mildly dyslexic bros! High five!)

[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

Still working on it... it's nearly there, the next part at least. :) I love this community - I think it must be because J&W isn't tied to any current fad, it's got the most loyal fans. Other fandoms I frequent there's more a sense of urgency as you feel the general enthusiasm waning and the audience shrinking.
Anyway, back to work!

[katead.livejournal.com]

This is lovely! I'd saved the first part of "what aunt Dahlia saw" on my hard drive and rediscovered it today only to find there's now so much more of it! I suspect this is the last of it, which is sad, but I'm so glad to have discovered all this fabulousness. Thank you for a very pleasant afternoon :)